Erikthonius the Cat and Deadorphina
by Unwillingly Me
Summary: It's not often that Thalia Grace has cats around her. And she really never liked Erikthonius. Number one reason- he was a cat. Second reason- Annabeth chose the name Erikthonius over Deadorphina.


**Hey, so this is just a short little thing I thought of, dedicated to my girlfriend Kady, celebrating the death of her cat. Though that sounds kind of mean. I didn't like her cat all that much, and she knew it.**

**I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

* * *

><p>"Thalia look! A kitty!" I looked at said cat and frowned. It was a real ugly cat. Big chunks of its fur were missing, and it looked like it was going to die any time soon. "Can we keep it?"<p>

I really wanted to say no. Really, I did, but I couldn't bring myself to say no to Annabeth's face. She was so excited, I could tell that much. I don't know, maybe she had a cat when she lived with her dad.

I've never liked cats. And they've never liked me. But I couldn't say no to Annabeth.

"Alright. But you've got to take good care of it. Okay?" Besides, she'd probably forget about it if it died. I watched her pick it up like it was a child. It was kind of funny, seeing the cat let her treat it like a baby. "Whatcha gonna name it?"

I mentally cursed at myself for asking. Naming something often increases the amount of attachment directed to the object. I should have known better than to ask. Gods, how could I have been so stupid? The cat's going to die, and then Annabeth will be heartbroken because her pet's dead. And then I'm going to have to make it all better because Zeus knows that Luke won't.

"I think I'll name him..." Him? How'd she know it was a guy cat? "What's a good cat name?"

"Dead," I said without thinking. "I mean... Deadorphina. Yeah, that's a good name. What do you think Annie?"

She frowned because I called her Annie. But she did seem to be in deep though over whether Deadorphina was an okay cat name. She just had this look in her eyes, they were real stormy. Like more stormy than usual

"That's a stupid name Thalia."

"I worked real hard to come up with that!" I shot back. Yeah, it was stupid but it's hard to think of names that start with the word "dead". I should be praised for how quickly I came up with Deadorphina.

"How about Erikthonius? I like that name." Erikthonius? How is that any better than Deadorphina?

"Yeah, Eric-Thomas is a good name too."

"Erikthonius," she whined, making me smile. Gods, she was smart. Erikthonius was some Athenian king. That's really all I knew about him.

"What did I say?"

* * *

><p>The nun we practically tackled looked pretty pale. But I guess nuns aren't usually asked to pray to Hades for a cat's soul. I'd be kind of freaked out if I was her. I mean, praying to Hades was one thing. Praying for a cat was another.<p>

I bet that it was the only time someone asked her to do both at the same time. But we dug a little grave for Erikthonius because Annabeth had been utterly devastated by his death.

Luke begged on his knees, claiming that we would never forgive ourselves if he didn't have a proper sending off. Even though I really didn't like that cat. The two of them, they absolutely adored Erikthonius.

"It's really important to us, right Thalia?" I shot a glared at him.

"Yeah, I'm really gonna miss Eric-Thomas."

"Erikthonius!" Annabeth and Luke said at the same time.

"That's what I meant to say."

The nun started babbling about how it was highly unconventional to pray for a cat's soul. That's when I grabbed the front of her dress-robe, fist raised as if I was going to hit her. To be honest, I probably wouldn't.

"Listen here. That girl right there-" I pointed at Annabeth. "-took real good care of Erikthonius. And it wasn't her fault he died. But you're gonna pray for her cat's soul, and you're gonna be a hundred percent sincere when you do."

The nun ended up following us to where we had buried Erikthonius. She seemed a bit grossed out by the fact that it was in the middle of a park. But it's not like we could afford to get the cat buried in a cemetery or something.

"I'm gonna miss you Erikthonius." Annabeth's tears made me want to cry because I'd much rather cry than have her cry. I don't know, maybe it's a sister sort of thing to think. Annabeth's like a sister to me.

Now, the fact that Luke was crying harder than Annabeth was pathetic. But I restrained myself from saying anything rude.

"Now would any of you three like to say anything to dear Erikthonius?" I have to admit, the nun was doing a pretty good job of acting like she cared about the cat. I mean, she was doing a way better job than me.

Annabeth, started tears streaming down her face.

"Erikthonius, you were a really great cat and friend. And we didn't know each other for long but you were a big part of our family. I know that someday I might forget you, but you'll always live in my heart." Luke hugged her then started crying some more.

"I'll go next," he said softly. "Erikthonius, you were a great guard, keeping us safe from people that would try to hurt us or kill us. And it seems really unfair that it was you that died out of all of us because you were just a normal cat, but we love you anyways."

The nun looked at me expectantly. Was I supposed to say something to the cat? He didn't do much. I guess he made Annabeth happy. That's one thing. He did save Luke's life once by biting a cyclops. Also found us some pretty good hiding places.

"Thanks." That was all I said.

* * *

><p>"What's that Thalia?" I smiled at the little girl. "Is it a secret?"<p>

"Well, I found a replacement for Erikthonius. I named her um... Deaorphina." Annabeth smiled at the name. "I'm gonna show her to you. Ready?"

"Yeah!"

I uncupped my hands to show Deadorphina to Annabeth. Only to have Annabeth run over to Luke, crying real badly. He came over and looked at me like I was an idiot.

"What did I do?"

"You're really stupid sometimes," he told me, knocking Deadorphina out of my hands crushing her with his foot. "Annabeth's scared of spiders."

He walked back over to Annabeth to probably give her mental therapy because I put a spider in her face.

"Oh."


End file.
